Family Forgotten
Chapter 4: On the Road to Memories
I have been living at the mansion now for over six months and life has been never better, with the help of the professor, he has gave me some lenses to help with my eyes and make me appear more normal to everyone else. As for my tail I simply wear it as a belt and only pull it out when I have to run or do something that requires a lot of balance. My father has taken it upon himself to train me more in martial arts as far as my fighting skills go and Hank has offered to instruct me in the art of acrobatics helping me to move more gracefully around and make it easier to over come my opponents. Getting to know everyone in the mansion was a bit of a task but I was quick to get around to it, there are a few that catch my eye though. Rouge and Kitty were at the top of my list. The three of us would play around a lot and train together, of course they knew of the age difference but they didn't care because I was just like them, just for longer. Another good friend in the X-men was Kurt, he being the only other mutant with a tail he and I suffered some of the same problems associated with having the X- gene. The mornings were becoming all to common now, but with the semester under way they were far busier than those in the summer months. As normal, my father came down with Ororo and then it was Scott and Jean followed by Kitty then Rouge. Kurt and I were at the table with coffee in tail and were dishing into the French toast platter that was prepared for us by Hank and the Professor, Rouge and Kitty were pretty much out of it they had mentioned that there was some sort of studying that they had to do before this morning's classes.
"Hey girls what shakin'?" I asked them.
"Yeah you guys look beat, what happened?" Kurt asked.
"Too tired, can't talk," they said walking over to get their food.
I could do nothing but laugh under my breath, mind you I did have a mouth full of bread at the time, Kurt was doing the same until he started choking on a piece of fruit, then in the confusion spilt the coffee held in his tail all over his ass and then proceeded to fall over backwards and out of his chair gasping for breath. Now if that wasn't bad enough, I ended up laughing so hard over the whole thing I fell backwards out of my place at the table getting everyone else into the whole thing.
Mornings like this were nice because it allowed everybody to see each other and that way, you would at least know that they were alive. After break fast dad and I started to pack for the trip, we planned on going on to find who his parents were and exactly where in Alberta they had lived, he mentioned something about having a surprise for me in the garage but I had no clue as to what it could be, I guess I would have to wait. Gathering our things he and Ororo met me in the foyer more towards the entrance to the mansion's garage.
"Ready for this Jack?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be dad,"
"Glad to hear that, it's a long way to Alberta from here,"
"You think I don't know that, I walked here from Milk River, Alberta," I told my father as we approached the garage.
"Yeah, Yeah I know just buggin' ya. Now it's time for that surprise I told you about son,"
"Really, what could it be?"
"Well I hope you like her,"
"Her?? What do you mean her?"
"Just see for yourself," he told me opening the door to the garage.
There before me sat a custom Harley Davidson soft tail cruiser, a pure gem in the biking world. She was a sleek black, with chrome custom pipes, and a form fitted custom seat. Not to mention that she was chopped and lowered 2" all around; the engine was bored out and polished right up and ready for riding.
"Oh my GOD!!!!!!!!" I yelled out. "What a bike. thank you, thank you, thank you, ." I told him giving him and Ororo a hug then moving in to check my new girl out, and I'm pretty sure seeing a guy of my age jumping around and almost crying like a little school girl wasn't bad enough but I have to admit this was an awesome bike.
"I figured that you'd like her," he said pulling out his older cruiser and checking the fluids.
"How did you find her?" I asked him.
"Oh we had an old one kickin' around the mansion so I went out and found that bike and then traded the old one off to the die hard Harley owner that had her before you,"
"I couldn't begin to imagine why he would trade this one off,"
"He mentioned that he was looking for another for a custom project and he didn't have the heart to chop this girl up. The bike I gave him was a bit rough but far from wrecked, I mean I even rode it around once and a while,"
"Huh, that's interesting, but thank you never the less,"
"Yeah I figured if you're my son you should be into bikes as well, and I guess I was right,"
"By the way is Ororo going to ride with you?"
"Oh hell no! She has her own bike, one that I tuned myself so I know that its going to run right," he told me as Ororo brought hers up to the door.
Ororo helped me put the stuff into the saddlebags and we opened the door to the compound. Heading out we made our way North to Ontario Canada and on towards Ottawa. The trip up there was nice and relaxing, I got to open up the bike a bit and see what she was really made of, as we made our way up to Canada the border patrol was eager to let us by considering that we were only on bikes and that same time allowed me to have my eyes out in the open for once, if they saw the chrome over I could call them a new form of sunglasses. Within two days we were in Ottawa and heading over to parlament hill, getting directions from there we left to find the financial records of our family. Walking into the revenue Canada building there was a younger lady working at the counter, she was a slim cut redhead with amber eyes wearing a short red skirt and a white blouse (hey I can't help it if I'm a little observant ok!). We headed up and I found her name to be Jeanette, pretty name for a pretty girl.
"Hello there may I help you?" she asked.
"Yes you may, we're looking for records about our family's financial history and such," my father told her
"Well it's a tall order but what is the name of the family?"
"Howlett, John and Elizabeth,"
She punched away on her computer for a bit and looked for a minute as if she found something.
"Well I found a file, but this thing is ancient the last recording was just before the 20th century, they make a note of having one son and a ranch in southern Alberta. May I ask what this is regarding?"
"Well you may find this real hard to believe but John and Elizabeth are my father's parents," I told her pointing to my father beside me.
"Yeah right!! That would make you over 100, and to tell you the truth you don't anywhere over fifty," she said looking at the two of us.
"Well he is and me myself am over one hundred as well, in fact I fought in both world wars and lived through the great depression,"
"You know what mister, you guys crack me up and since this is going on I don't think I should give you that information," she said looking back to her computer.
"Ok if you want proof that I fought in the wars, you should have the enlistment files of everyone in both wars in storage here. Go in the back and pull the files on Jack Howlett out for both and I will have a photo accompanied with both, sure my eyes will be different but that doesn't matter," I told her.
"What do you mean, your eyes will be different?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing much are you sure that you want to know?"
"Why not, now that you have my curiosity you should really show me,"
"Fine but let me tell you now that I warned you,"
"Fine enough now show me!" she told me growing impatient.
Slowly I removed my glasses to reveal the chrome orbs that were now my eyes, she stood back almost gasping for breath at the sight of them, she looked at them closely thinking that they were contacts for a minute but I was soon to assure her that they weren't.
"What happened, I mean you can't be born like that,"
"Well that is a long story in itself, scientists did this to me hoping to create the perfect weapon, they gave me a few other things but that I won't go into," I told her putting my glasses back on.
"Try me, now that you got my attention, you should spill the beans," she told me leaning in to get a better look.
"I'm a mutant," I told her, of course she was a bit taken back but continued to listen. "I was born with a few things like, bone claws and animal senses and even a heightened healing factor. That inadvertently allows me not to age and well this organization wanted my body as their next weapon. They gave me an adamantium skeleton and these eyes and even a tail to improve my balance. I was supposed to be the new weapon X, better than my predecessor, oddly enough I found out a little while back that my father was that predecessor and I got out of the situation lucky, as for him. My father has broken memories due to the memory implants put in by the doctors, they give him their reality and what's left of his own life leaving him unable to distinguish reality from fiction,"
"That's horrid, what kind of person could do such a thing?" she asked.
"The Canadian government,"
"No!! Really that's who did all this?"
"Yeah, my father has been this way for nearly thirty some odd years, as for me I've only been this way for nearly a year and a bit, most of it I don't remember since they had me drugged up all the time," I told her, leaving her a bit stunned and at a loss for words.
"That's incredible, but wouldn't you know more about your family considering that you have been around that much more untouched,"
"No, I don't because I was born in a mining camp were my father was staying after his parents were murdered. Just after my mother died he went to the bush to seclude himself from the outside world. So while he was gone I stayed at the camp until I was seven and ran off, going out and living off the land," I finished explaining to a stunned woman.
"I will give you the info but I still want to check the files to be sure that you are who you say you are,"
"Fine enough for me, I can wait," I said as she walked out to get the files.
She came back holding two huge folders with all my stats and battles, during world war 1 I fought over in France on the Western Front and then during WW2 I fought over in southern Europe, nearly getting out of operation Market Garden with a few more holes than necessary. During WW2 alone I got five purple hearts, and two silver stars from two different American companies. I have to admit that they were quite the accomplishments, its really bad though that I'm not recognized as a true veteran because of my appearance, but I will always have friends and comrades that I fought with there to prove my story. The information that she gave us lead us to a large and wealthy ranch in the foothills of Alberta, being almost due west of Calgary about an hours drive. With that we headed out, having copies of some of the addresses and a phone number of a local law firm that dealt with grandma and grandpa's will and estate. Whatever was left should be riddled with questions and answers.
Chapter 4: On the Road to Memories
I have been living at the mansion now for over six months and life has been never better, with the help of the professor, he has gave me some lenses to help with my eyes and make me appear more normal to everyone else. As for my tail I simply wear it as a belt and only pull it out when I have to run or do something that requires a lot of balance. My father has taken it upon himself to train me more in martial arts as far as my fighting skills go and Hank has offered to instruct me in the art of acrobatics helping me to move more gracefully around and make it easier to over come my opponents. Getting to know everyone in the mansion was a bit of a task but I was quick to get around to it, there are a few that catch my eye though. Rouge and Kitty were at the top of my list. The three of us would play around a lot and train together, of course they knew of the age difference but they didn't care because I was just like them, just for longer. Another good friend in the X-men was Kurt, he being the only other mutant with a tail he and I suffered some of the same problems associated with having the X- gene. The mornings were becoming all to common now, but with the semester under way they were far busier than those in the summer months. As normal, my father came down with Ororo and then it was Scott and Jean followed by Kitty then Rouge. Kurt and I were at the table with coffee in tail and were dishing into the French toast platter that was prepared for us by Hank and the Professor, Rouge and Kitty were pretty much out of it they had mentioned that there was some sort of studying that they had to do before this morning's classes.
"Hey girls what shakin'?" I asked them.
"Yeah you guys look beat, what happened?" Kurt asked.
"Too tired, can't talk," they said walking over to get their food.
I could do nothing but laugh under my breath, mind you I did have a mouth full of bread at the time, Kurt was doing the same until he started choking on a piece of fruit, then in the confusion spilt the coffee held in his tail all over his ass and then proceeded to fall over backwards and out of his chair gasping for breath. Now if that wasn't bad enough, I ended up laughing so hard over the whole thing I fell backwards out of my place at the table getting everyone else into the whole thing.
Mornings like this were nice because it allowed everybody to see each other and that way, you would at least know that they were alive. After break fast dad and I started to pack for the trip, we planned on going on to find who his parents were and exactly where in Alberta they had lived, he mentioned something about having a surprise for me in the garage but I had no clue as to what it could be, I guess I would have to wait. Gathering our things he and Ororo met me in the foyer more towards the entrance to the mansion's garage.
"Ready for this Jack?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be dad,"
"Glad to hear that, it's a long way to Alberta from here,"
"You think I don't know that, I walked here from Milk River, Alberta," I told my father as we approached the garage.
"Yeah, Yeah I know just buggin' ya. Now it's time for that surprise I told you about son,"
"Really, what could it be?"
"Well I hope you like her,"
"Her?? What do you mean her?"
"Just see for yourself," he told me opening the door to the garage.
There before me sat a custom Harley Davidson soft tail cruiser, a pure gem in the biking world. She was a sleek black, with chrome custom pipes, and a form fitted custom seat. Not to mention that she was chopped and lowered 2" all around; the engine was bored out and polished right up and ready for riding.
"Oh my GOD!!!!!!!!" I yelled out. "What a bike. thank you, thank you, thank you, ." I told him giving him and Ororo a hug then moving in to check my new girl out, and I'm pretty sure seeing a guy of my age jumping around and almost crying like a little school girl wasn't bad enough but I have to admit this was an awesome bike.
"I figured that you'd like her," he said pulling out his older cruiser and checking the fluids.
"How did you find her?" I asked him.
"Oh we had an old one kickin' around the mansion so I went out and found that bike and then traded the old one off to the die hard Harley owner that had her before you,"
"I couldn't begin to imagine why he would trade this one off,"
"He mentioned that he was looking for another for a custom project and he didn't have the heart to chop this girl up. The bike I gave him was a bit rough but far from wrecked, I mean I even rode it around once and a while,"
"Huh, that's interesting, but thank you never the less,"
"Yeah I figured if you're my son you should be into bikes as well, and I guess I was right,"
"By the way is Ororo going to ride with you?"
"Oh hell no! She has her own bike, one that I tuned myself so I know that its going to run right," he told me as Ororo brought hers up to the door.
Ororo helped me put the stuff into the saddlebags and we opened the door to the compound. Heading out we made our way North to Ontario Canada and on towards Ottawa. The trip up there was nice and relaxing, I got to open up the bike a bit and see what she was really made of, as we made our way up to Canada the border patrol was eager to let us by considering that we were only on bikes and that same time allowed me to have my eyes out in the open for once, if they saw the chrome over I could call them a new form of sunglasses. Within two days we were in Ottawa and heading over to parlament hill, getting directions from there we left to find the financial records of our family. Walking into the revenue Canada building there was a younger lady working at the counter, she was a slim cut redhead with amber eyes wearing a short red skirt and a white blouse (hey I can't help it if I'm a little observant ok!). We headed up and I found her name to be Jeanette, pretty name for a pretty girl.
"Hello there may I help you?" she asked.
"Yes you may, we're looking for records about our family's financial history and such," my father told her
"Well it's a tall order but what is the name of the family?"
"Howlett, John and Elizabeth,"
She punched away on her computer for a bit and looked for a minute as if she found something.
"Well I found a file, but this thing is ancient the last recording was just before the 20th century, they make a note of having one son and a ranch in southern Alberta. May I ask what this is regarding?"
"Well you may find this real hard to believe but John and Elizabeth are my father's parents," I told her pointing to my father beside me.
"Yeah right!! That would make you over 100, and to tell you the truth you don't anywhere over fifty," she said looking at the two of us.
"Well he is and me myself am over one hundred as well, in fact I fought in both world wars and lived through the great depression,"
"You know what mister, you guys crack me up and since this is going on I don't think I should give you that information," she said looking back to her computer.
"Ok if you want proof that I fought in the wars, you should have the enlistment files of everyone in both wars in storage here. Go in the back and pull the files on Jack Howlett out for both and I will have a photo accompanied with both, sure my eyes will be different but that doesn't matter," I told her.
"What do you mean, your eyes will be different?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing much are you sure that you want to know?"
"Why not, now that you have my curiosity you should really show me,"
"Fine but let me tell you now that I warned you,"
"Fine enough now show me!" she told me growing impatient.
Slowly I removed my glasses to reveal the chrome orbs that were now my eyes, she stood back almost gasping for breath at the sight of them, she looked at them closely thinking that they were contacts for a minute but I was soon to assure her that they weren't.
"What happened, I mean you can't be born like that,"
"Well that is a long story in itself, scientists did this to me hoping to create the perfect weapon, they gave me a few other things but that I won't go into," I told her putting my glasses back on.
"Try me, now that you got my attention, you should spill the beans," she told me leaning in to get a better look.
"I'm a mutant," I told her, of course she was a bit taken back but continued to listen. "I was born with a few things like, bone claws and animal senses and even a heightened healing factor. That inadvertently allows me not to age and well this organization wanted my body as their next weapon. They gave me an adamantium skeleton and these eyes and even a tail to improve my balance. I was supposed to be the new weapon X, better than my predecessor, oddly enough I found out a little while back that my father was that predecessor and I got out of the situation lucky, as for him. My father has broken memories due to the memory implants put in by the doctors, they give him their reality and what's left of his own life leaving him unable to distinguish reality from fiction,"
"That's horrid, what kind of person could do such a thing?" she asked.
"The Canadian government,"
"No!! Really that's who did all this?"
"Yeah, my father has been this way for nearly thirty some odd years, as for me I've only been this way for nearly a year and a bit, most of it I don't remember since they had me drugged up all the time," I told her, leaving her a bit stunned and at a loss for words.
"That's incredible, but wouldn't you know more about your family considering that you have been around that much more untouched,"
"No, I don't because I was born in a mining camp were my father was staying after his parents were murdered. Just after my mother died he went to the bush to seclude himself from the outside world. So while he was gone I stayed at the camp until I was seven and ran off, going out and living off the land," I finished explaining to a stunned woman.
"I will give you the info but I still want to check the files to be sure that you are who you say you are,"
"Fine enough for me, I can wait," I said as she walked out to get the files.
She came back holding two huge folders with all my stats and battles, during world war 1 I fought over in France on the Western Front and then during WW2 I fought over in southern Europe, nearly getting out of operation Market Garden with a few more holes than necessary. During WW2 alone I got five purple hearts, and two silver stars from two different American companies. I have to admit that they were quite the accomplishments, its really bad though that I'm not recognized as a true veteran because of my appearance, but I will always have friends and comrades that I fought with there to prove my story. The information that she gave us lead us to a large and wealthy ranch in the foothills of Alberta, being almost due west of Calgary about an hours drive. With that we headed out, having copies of some of the addresses and a phone number of a local law firm that dealt with grandma and grandpa's will and estate. Whatever was left should be riddled with questions and answers.